ODJ: Before the Great Ocean

October 18, 2018 

READ: Isaiah 55:1-9 

Just as the heavens are higher than the earth, so my ways are higher than your ways and my thoughts higher than your thoughts (v.9).

With his masterwork of physics, the PhilosophiÆ Naturalis Principia Mathematica, Isaac Newton changed our understanding of how the world works. He was able to describe and predict natural phenomena to a degree which had never been done before, and his principles continue to be used to this day. Yet Newton was never under any illusion about the limitations of his brilliance. Despite all he’d discovered, he admitted to feeling like “the great ocean of truth lay undiscovered before me”. Even the great Isaac Newton knew he didn’t know it all!

A key aspect of growing in our faith is growing in our knowledge of God (John 17:3; Colossians 1:10). To that end, we may spend many hours reading Scripture or listening to sermons, using many different ways to seek to know God more. In fact, that’s most probably why you find yourself reading this devotional today!

But Isaiah 55 reminds us that we can never know God fully. “My thoughts are nothing like your thoughts,” He says. “And my ways are far beyond anything you could imagine” (v.8). His thoughts and ways aren’t merely different from ours, but higher—“just as the heavens are higher than the earth” (v.9). And so try as we might, we’ll always have to accept the fact that we can never fully grasp a God whose ways are so different than our own.

But instead of being discouraging, believing this truth is a necessary step in knowing God; because knowing Him truly means recognising that He’s greater even than our ability to comprehend Him and His ways.

And so, even as we continue to grow in our knowledge of God, we can also celebrate following the One whose greatness and love are greater than anything we could ever know or imagine! (Ephesians 3:19).

—Peter Chin

365-day plan: Acts 8:1-25

MORE
Read Psalm 139:6-12to see that even in worship we can acknowledge and celebrate the unknowable nature of God! 
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How can we know God even if we can’t fully comprehend Him? How will you worship Him today?